Lawyers of Megawati supporters quit court
JAKARTA (JP): A court proceeding of a suit against the city police chief by 57 Megawati Soekarnoputri supporters over their detention descended into chaos yesterday when their lawyers walked out in protest over the authorities' refusal to release their clients for the session.
The 15 lawyers acting on behalf of members of Barisan Merah Putih (the Red-and-White Front) said the proceedings would be legally flawed if the plaintiffs' were not present.
The 57 plaintiffs are being detained in the Cipinang and Pondok Bambu penitentiaries in East Jakarta.
The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office did not explain why it had refused to release the supporters of the ousted Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) leader.
Lawyers said the court was attempting to delay proceedings until police submitted their own case against the plaintiffs to the court. When that happens, the plaintiffs' will be obliged to abandon their action if the court has not yet allowed their action to proceed to a full trial.
Yesterday's hearing was supposed to examine material evidence and the plaintiffs' testimony.
When their clients failed to appear, lawyers from the Defense Team of Indonesia Democracy (TPDI), who are representing the plaintiffs, asked the judges' permission to leave the courtroom. Their request was immediately granted.
"We want to leave because material evidence should include the plaintiffs, who have not been allowed to come. We therefore cannot submit our evidence," Pantas Nainggolan, one of the lawyers, told a panel of judges led by P.H. Pardede.
The judges allowed the plaintiffs' legal team to leave, then asked police lawyers to submit their written evidence before closing the hearing.
The court will rule on the case today.
Fourteen judges were in attendance and six rooms prepared for the hearings in a case brought in protest at the arrest of a number of demonstrators on Feb. 15.
A total of 157 people were arrested for demonstrating against high food prices on that day. One hundred and twenty two of the detainees are suing police over their detention. Fifty seven of the plaintiffs are being held in Cipinang and Pondok Bambu penitentiaries in East Jakarta. The other 65 are being held in the city police detention center.
The plaintiffs claim warrants for their detention were issued five days after their arrest. The law states that warrants should be issued within 24 hours of their detention.
Dozens of people waited to see relatives who were among those scheduled to appear in court. Many also waited in vain at the same court on Monday.
Outside the court, Pantas said hearings on lawsuits brought by the other 65 plaintiffs, which were due to be heard yesterday, had to be postponed because they too had been prevented from attending the court.
"The proceedings have been very messy. We are afraid the court's decision may suffer as a consequence," he added.
According to Criminal Code procedures, plaintiffs should be present at the hearing and may not be represented in absentia by lawyers.
"Our job is to accompany the plaintiffs and give them legal advice during the trial," he said.
TPDI said in a statement yesterday that the court, the prosecutor's office and the police were conspiring to stall the proceedings.
"The plaintiffs are being prevented from attending hearings until the police can bring their own case to court, thereby foiling our lawsuit," it said.
TPDI criticized the city police chief and the prosecutor's office for preventing the plaintiffs from attending the court hearing.
They also queried why the court had not ordered the police and the prosecutor's office to release the plaintiffs for the hearing.
Lawyers said they had questioned police and the prosecutor's office about the plaintiffs absence, but did not receive a satisfactory explanation. (jun)